Apple had to pay $21M for clock design after they were called out for using it without licensing as far as I understand.

This is what I think. At a time when Apple are pointing the finger at everyone else, I guess they had no option but to pay-up for such blatant copyright theft. Mondaine undoubtedly saw that and absolutely took Apple to the cleaners.

I wonder if that was yet another thing that led to Forstall's departure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike MA

Again a useless and this time very expensive use of skeuomorphism...Apple will need to sell some iPads to refinance that Forstall decision....

Scott Forstall, the new Emmanuel Goldstein of the Apple rumours community.

Anyway, I agree that Apple made a cock-up by running with that design, and I suppose the buck has to stop with someone. 21 million is too much for the licensing of an iPad clock-face design, but let's look on the bright side… I'd rather see the money go to one country's public transport system than some patent vultures like Lodsys.

Sure, NOW the clock face is generic, but it's from 1944. Look at all other clock faces from the 1940's and you'll know why this one is an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. It has influenced every other clock face you've seen. Apple made the mistake of ripping the original.

This clock face design is about as iconic and copy-protected as any Omega Speedmaster or Rolex Oyster. And Apple wouldn't have copied these either without facing legal consequences.
Swiss Railway is by the way a large Apple customer. Their management staff is equipped with iPhones and iPads. Had Apple asked politely, they probably would have gotten a license in exchange for a few pallets of iPhones and iPads...

to those saying "why didn't Apple just change the clock design (or use the iPhone's design) and not pay the 21mm" ... you have to realize that once the infringement had occurred, it wouldn't suffice to simply just stop infringing. Millions of iPads had the clock on it and Apple can't force an update to remove the clock (users have to agree to upgrade iOS versions). So, whether by intention or mistake, Apple infringed and they realized it. The 21mm is the value of the infringement to the Swiss Railway. Story over.